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Reproduction apparatus and content reproduction methodRelated Patent Categories: Electrical Computers And Digital Processing Systems: Multicomputer Data Transferring, Multicomputer Data Transferring Via Shared MemoryReproduction apparatus and content reproduction method description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070150548, Reproduction apparatus and content reproduction method. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-377684, filed Dec. 28, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field [0003] One embodiment of the invention relates to a reproduction apparatus that, when contents are reproduced from a medium in which the contents are stored, reproducing supplemental contents acquired via a network. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Optical disks, such as Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) are available as storage mediums capable of retaining video image contents or audio contents with high density. [0006] Optical disks are rapidly becoming prevalent, since they are capable of reproduction of contents from an arbitrary reproduction position, and have a relatively large storage capacity with respect to physical size, as compared to a tape based medium. [0007] In recent years, there have been also already practically used ultra high-density optical disks (High Definition Digital Versatile Disc, hereinafter, referred to as HD DVD) capable of storing HD-standard video image data and high quality sound audio data in one disk by utilizing a blue or violet laser light beam with a short wavelength for reproduction of contents (information) from the optical disks. [0008] In HD DVD standard optical disks or even with some standard DVD optical disks, address or link destination information, such as uniform resource locator (URL) for recommending access to a content provider or supplier's supplemental contents via a network can be included in one of the contents stored in an optical disk. [0009] Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) No. 2004-37981 discloses an example of, with respect to downloaded contents in a main unit called a home server, enabling transfer to a client machine permitted for reproduction of contents downloaded by the server. [0010] However, a charge for a download is not described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-37981. For example, in the case where a plurality of reproduction apparatuses are present in a home, or alternatively, in the case where an individual having a plurality of reproduction apparatuses attempts to reproduce supplemental contents by using an arbitrary reproduction apparatus, there is a problem that such supplemental contents cannot be reproduced by an apparatus other than the reproduction apparatus used for the downloading. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS [0011] A general architecture that implements the various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention. [0012] FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram showing a reproduction apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; [0013] FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of a concept of reading out supplemental contents retained in the persistent storage (P-storage) of an arbitrary reproduction apparatus by another reproduction apparatuses situated over a local area network (LAN), and reproducing the read out contents together with contents stored in a loaded HD DVD disk D; [0014] FIG. 3 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating one example of procedures for reading out the supplemental contents retained in the P-storage of an arbitrary reproduction apparatus described with reference to FIG. 2 by another reproduction apparatus situated over a LAN, and then, reproducing the read out contents together with contents stored in the loaded HD DVD disk D; [0015] FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating one example of procedures for reading out the supplemental contents retained in the P-storage of an arbitrary reproduction apparatus described with reference to FIG. 2 by another reproduction apparatus situated over a LAN, and then, reproducing the read out contents together with contents stored in the loaded HD DVD disk D; [0016] FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating one example of procedures for reading out the supplemental contents retained in the P-storage of an arbitrary reproduction apparatus described with reference to FIG. 2 by another reproduction apparatus situated over a LAN, and then, reproducing the read out contents together with contents stored in the loaded HD DVD disk D; and [0017] FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of an apparatus capable of reading out the supplemental contents retained in the P-storage of an arbitrary reproduction apparatus shown in FIG. 2 by another reproduction apparatus situated over a LAN, and reproducing the read out contents together with contents stored in the loaded HD DVD disk D. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0018] Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, a content reproduction method includes downloading supplemental contents from a supplier associated with a loaded optical disk, retaining the downloaded supplemental contents in a predetermined storage section, and in the case where an optical disk is reproduced by a reproduction apparatus which is different from the reproduction apparatus employed for downloading such supplemental contents, transferring or copying the downloaded supplemental contents to a reproduction apparatus which is different from the reproduction apparatus employed for the download, or alternatively, enabling readout from a reproduction apparatus which is different from the reproduction apparatus employed for the download. [0019] In the case of reproducing content from an optical disk in a reproduction apparatus, supplemental contents can be downloaded from a network, thereby enabling reproduction of the supplemental contents simultaneous or in parallel with the contents of the optical disk. In some cases, a fee is charged for a download of the supplemental contents. [0020] In the case where the disk content from the same optical disk is reproduced by a plurality of reproduction apparatuses, the supplemental contents originally from the content supplier can be stored in each apparatus in which reproduction is desired. As used herein, the term "same optical disk" means the same physical disk and also, duplicate copies of a disk having the same data, such as, for example, two copies of the same movie title. Where a fee is charged per download, a charge may be incurred each time the supplemental contents are directly downloaded from a content provider. 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